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The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul. ~ Alfred Austin

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Vegetable garden progress 22/12/15

Knowing today was going to be stinking hot I went outside just after 6 this morning to water and cover up any vulnerable seedlings. So glad I did because it was a scorcher and tomorrow is predicted to be even hotter. Went out this evening to see how the garden fared and took a few photos while out there. Things are happening!!

The watermelon are growing :)
Currently there are four this size and a couple of smaller ones.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but we have zucchini at last!
At the moment about five little ones growing.

Also not pictured but which are producing really
well are the cucumbers, about ten on the vine, and
the first one should be ready to pick any day now.

The bush beans are doing well and I am picking 7-10 every second day
and there are plenty more flowers, so soon enough we will have
plenty more beans to enjoy. Planted out some tall growing bean seedlings
on the weekend when it was a little cooler, hoping they survive the next few days.

Another blurry photo - but we have tomatoes!!
These ones are the cherry tomatoes.

Still no fruit on the Mortgage Lifter, but lots of flowers.

The corn is growing and looking very healthy and now starting to flower.

In the laundry tub garden I have planted two capsicum seedlings.
I covered them with pots today to protect from the heat and
they look like they are doing well. Fingers crossed as I am missing
not being able to pick capsicums. Normally I have been able to keep at
least one plant going over winter and by late spring we are picking the first
capsicums. But sadly that didn't happen this year.

The old laundry tub garden (which really needs painting).
I am debating whether to paint it the dark colour like the wall behind
or do I paint it a bright colourful colour?

Some of the Dahlia's are planted around the laundry tub
and this gorgeous one is about to burst into bloom.

I had a day off today so after spending the morning watering and tending to
the garden I drove over to our neighbouring town to finish off
the last of the Christmas shopping and I came home to these lovely
flowers that had been delivered. Feeling very spoilt.

When I was out in the garden this morning I snacked on the very last of our blueberries, a couple of strawberries, some beans, a couple of plums and a couple of peaches. That's what it's all about, nothing better than being able to eat healthy delicious food that you have grown straight out of your garden.

All in all the small harvest today was made up of five blueberries, eight plums, half a dozen peaches, seven beans, three strawberries and nine eggs from the chooks who have all settled in well. Small harvest but lots more to look forward to.

Wednesday 16 December 2015

The new chooks and a cute frog


The new chooks arrived about 6 o'clock last night. They had a two and a half hour trip to get here and were a bit hot and worse for wear as yesterday was a very hot day. I treated each one for mites before they went into the pen and it wasn't long before they had all had a good drink and something to eat before scratching around the pen and exploring their new yard. Some of them have feathers missing but hopefully with a bit of TLC they will be looking good in no time.

Our one and only surviving chook from the fox attack three months ago.
She is now known as Lucky!

Will have to get lots more greens growing for the girls.

The two Barnavelders out of the group.


A little spider I found in the honeysuckle while watering early yesterday morning.

The Dahlias have started to flower and the bees are happy about that.

When I hung the washing on the line yesterday this cute little frog popped out
from inside a pot sitting nearby. It's good to know there are still some frogs around.


Last night was a shocker think I only managed three maybe three and a half hours sleep all night, feeling very tired and headache-y this morning. Thankfully I only have to go into work for about two hours today. I can't believe it is Christmas next week, this year has really flown by. Enjoy your Wednesday!

Monday 14 December 2015

Vege garden mid December



Normally at this time of year the summer vege garden would be fully planted out, not this summer.
So far all I have is tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, beans, corn, watermelon, and it's only a few of each plant, not lots like I normally have.

First up is the Mortgage Lifter tomato.
At this point there aren't any little tomatoes forming, but plenty of flowers.


Mortgage Lifter flowers which I saw Blue Banded Bees buzzing around earlier.


A few tiny little baby watermelon are forming.
this variety are Sugar Baby.

So far I only have bush beans planted, hoping to get some tall growing 
bean seeds in soon. A few tender beans have already been eaten and enjoyed.

Normally I have a big area of corn planted out, but it is just a small block
at this stage. Will plant some more seeds soon so as to hopefully
have a continuous crop.

There may not be much corn growing, but it is healthy looking!

A new variety of cucumber that I can't remember the name of.
When I remember I will add it in here.

Pomegranates are growing.
There are about half a dozen on the small shrub.

I have no idea what happened to the grapevine this year,
but there is only one little lonely bunch of grapes growing.
I think the vine needs a good feed and I also didn't get it pruned during winter.

Only one zucchini plant this year!!
No zucchinis as yet, but hopefully not too much longer.

So sad the blueberries have just about finished.
I have enjoyed picking a few and eating each day.
I am thinking about buying a different variety that will fruit after
these ones have finished, to prolong the harvest.

There is a gorgeous perfume that gently wafts over you while in the vege garden
from the jasmine that is planted on the fence as you enter the vege garden.
Such a gorgeous summer scent.

These recently arrived in the mail. I really don't know if they will work, but
definitely interested to find out. I hate snakes and they take away the enjoyment
of being outside in the garden during the summer months. This year seems to be
a particularly bad year for them and as we had a small one inside the house back
in March, I'm willing to give these a go and hope they do keep them right away
from the house. Will need to buy more if they do work. Has anyone had any luck
with using them?

Sunday 13 December 2015

Bits from the garden


It's been about three months since I was last here, and I have missed blogging. I think I just got stuck in such a rut and lost motivation for everything. It has been all I can do just to get the basics done each day let alone anything else. A major health scare in recent months has given me the incentive to clean up my act, start eating much better and try to fit in some exercise each day, along with not stressing about things and setting some goals to work towards. I haven't even really been taking many photos which is is very unusual for me. These are a few from the last two or three months. Things are starting to grow in the veggie garden too, so need to take some photos out there.

We didn't have a great deal of cherries on the tree this year, but what was
there were happily eaten.

The donut peaches are turning colour and are so close to being ready to pick.

Success with onions at last! I didn't manage to get all the seedlings in which was
a shame, but what I did get in, grew well and we have been enjoying eating them.
They are quite hot! 
I didn't get any garlic planted this year but missed some from last year that came up
on their own, so managed to harvest about 15-20 bulbs.



The Hydrangea is looking really good this summer, covered in beautiful blooms.
Need to have a go at taking some cuttings.

Philadelphius, such an amazing perfume! Another one to take cuttings from.

The bees and hoverflies loved the cornflowers.
I Need to plant lots more flowers to attract the bees, butterflies and hoverflies.

The roses this spring were spectacular!
I still need to feed and give them a good mulch before the really hot weather sets in.
Not that we haven't already had some very hot weather over the last couple of months
even well before summer officially arrived.

The very last photo I have of my gorgeous chooks. A fox got in and and took the lot bar one
who was broody at the time and in on the nest. The rotten thing even got our two little
silkie hens which the kids had raised from day old chicks eight years ago.
We have some more chooks arriving Tuesday, our one and only
chook has been quite lonely.

Lastly this photo is of a cool tree made entirely out of scrap metal.
We saw it one day when out driving with youngest teen to get his driving
hours up. It looked quite funny this metal tree just standing there out
in the middle of nowhere.

Looking forward to returning here regularly, I am itching to go and take lots of photos and to spend more time out in the garden and to get back to doing all the things I love doing.